Word
unreal
Phoneticsun·re·al
US/ənˈɹiɫ/
UK/ʌnɹˈiəl/
Definitions
01not real
adj. not real or existing in the physical world; like a dream or a story.
adj. lacking existence in reality; existing only in the imagination or as a theoretical concept.
“The bright colors in the dream felt so unreal when I woke up.”
“The landscape had an unreal quality, as if the mountains had been painted onto the horizon rather than formed by nature.”
02amazing or incredible
adj. so good, impressive, or strange that you can hardly believe it is true.
adj. extraordinary or incredible to an extreme degree; often used to express high praise or shock.
“The view from the top of the mountain was absolutely unreal.”
“The athlete's performance during the final minutes of the game was simply unreal, leaving the commentators and the crowd in total disbelief.”
Informal
Usage
Often used with intensifiers like 'absolutely' or 'totally' in spoken English.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From un- + real.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/unreal